Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 film (1955 in film) directed by Nicholas Ray that tells the story of a rebellious teenager (Adolescence#Teenagers) played by James Dean, who comes to a town, meets a girl, disobeys his parents, and defies the local high school bullies. It was an attempt to portray the moral decay of American youth, critique parental style, and exploit the differences between generations (generation gap). The title is adopted from psychiatrist Robert M. Lindners 1944 (1944 in literature) book, Rebel Without A Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath. The film itself, however, does not reference Lindners book in any way. In 1990, Rebel Without a Cause was added to the preserved films of the United States Library of Congresss National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The film had its opening on 27 October 1955, almost one month after James Deans fatal car crash.